Illustration of tiger
- tiger 1a
plural tigers
1
plural also tiger
a
: a large Asian carnivorous mammal (Panthera tigris) of the cat family having a usually tawny coat transversely striped with black
b
: any of several large wildcats (such as the jaguar or cougar)
c
: a domestic cat with striped pattern
d
Australia
: tasmanian tiger
2
a
: a fierce, daring, or aggressive person or quality
aroused the tiger in him
a tiger for work
b
: someone or something (such as a situation) that is formidable or impossible to control
how the tiger of inflation can be tamed—
J. A. Davenport
—often used in the phrases ride a tiger and have a tiger by the tail
J. A. Davenport3
British
: a groom in livery
tigerishly
adverb
tigerishness
noun
Examples of tiger in a Sentence
He was a tiger on the basketball court.
even the best defense can't keep that tiger from scoring
Recent Examples on the Web
But in 2004, people at a Thai zoo had positive antibodies results for H5N1 after tigers were infected and died in captivity.
—Eduardo Cuevas, USA TODAY, 20 Feb. 2025
The collection included taxidermied monkeys, crocodiles, zebras and tigers.
—Christine Rousselle, Fox News, 15 Feb. 2025
Key Moment: Floating in a luxury bungalow in Thailand, surrounded by elephants, tigers, and monkeys.
—Travel + Leisure Editors, Travel + Leisure, 12 Feb. 2025
The nature reserve shared footage of the boar and tiger swimming around trapped in the water before rescuers used a crane and container to bring them back to land.
—Brenton Blanchet, People.com, 7 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tiger
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Eduardo Cuevas, USA TODAY, 20 Feb. 2025
The collection included taxidermied monkeys, crocodiles, zebras and tigers.
—Christine Rousselle, Fox News, 15 Feb. 2025
Key Moment: Floating in a luxury bungalow in Thailand, surrounded by elephants, tigers, and monkeys.
—Travel + Leisure Editors, Travel + Leisure, 12 Feb. 2025
The nature reserve shared footage of the boar and tiger swimming around trapped in the water before rescuers used a crane and container to bring them back to land.
—Brenton Blanchet, People.com, 7 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tiger
Cite this Entry
“Tiger.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tiger. Accessed 1 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
tiger
noun
ti·ger
ˈtī-gər 
plural tigers also tiger
1
: a large Asian flesh-eating mammal of the same family as the domestic cat with a coat that is typically light brown to orange with mostly vertical black stripes
2
: any of several large wildcats (as the jaguar or cougar)
3
: a domestic cat with a striped coat
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